A spring type weather pattern returned to Iowa during the day on the 6th.  A nearly stationary front extended from South Dakota, southeast to near Fort Dodge, then east to near Waterloo.  South of the front the air was warm and quite unstable with temperatures in the upper 70s during the afternoon and dew points in the upper 50s to low 60s.  North of the front, temperatures were in the mid 70s however dew point temperatures were in the 30s to mid 40s.  By early evening the sounding from Omaha indicated a lifted index of -6 with a CAPE of 1500 to 2000 J/kg.  The freezing level was relatively low, around 12,000 feet.  As the sun set the low level jet strengthened.  By the late evening hours the jet was in the 40 to 50 kt range across the front.  Thunderstorms erupted along the frontal boundary during the evening and became severe quite quickly.  The mode of severe weather was in the form of hail.  Some cell splitting took place with several left movers noted.  Most of the hail was in the three quarter inch to one inch in diameter range.  A few reports of one and one quarter inch hail were received.  The largest hail was in Webster County with golf ball size hail falling on the town of Lehigh.  Of note was the amount of hail reported with one of the storms as it moved through Calhoun County.  Hail accumulated to a depth of two inches south of Jolley.  The storms became heavy rain producers as the night wore on.  Emmet County was hard hit with 3 to 5 inches of rain falling in the Estherville area.  The heaviest official rain total was at the river gage in Estherville with 5.39 inches.  The observer from  Estherville reported 4.77 inches at the Emergency Managers office.  Roads were flooded in and around Estherville and a campground required evacuation at the fairgrounds there.

Hail in CALHOUN, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 21:37:00 to 06-MAY-05 21:37:00 (CST)
Location: MANSON
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 1K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 21:45:00 to 06-MAY-05 21:45:00 (CST)
Location: HARDY
Magnitude: 0.75 
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 07-MAY-05 03:06:00 to 07-MAY-05 03:06:00 (CST)
Location: GOWRIE
Magnitude: 0.88 
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 21:30:00 to 06-MAY-05 21:30:00 (CST)
Location: HUMBOLDT
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 1K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 21:50:00 to 06-MAY-05 21:50:00 (CST)
Location: HUMBOLDT
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 3K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Flash Flood in EMMET, IOWA
From 07-MAY-05 03:30:00 to 07-MAY-05 05:00:00 (CST)
Location: ESTHERVILLE
Property damage: 25K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 22:55:00 to 06-MAY-05 22:55:00 (CST)
Location: LEHIGH
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 22:40:00 to 06-MAY-05 22:40:00 (CST)
Location: LEHIGH
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in CALHOUN, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 20:26:00 to 06-MAY-05 20:26:00 (CST)
Location: JOLLEY
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 2K
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Hail in CALHOUN, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 20:25:00 to 06-MAY-05 20:25:00 (CST)
Location: JOLLEY
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in CALHOUN, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 21:40:00 to 06-MAY-05 21:40:00 (CST)
Location: MANSON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in EMMET, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 23:30:00 to 06-MAY-05 23:30:00 (CST)
Location: ESTHERVILLE
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Hail in CARROLL, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 19:16:00 to 06-MAY-05 19:16:00 (CST)
Location: ARCADIA
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 1K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 21:40:00 to 06-MAY-05 21:40:00 (CST)
Location: HUMBOLDT
Magnitude: 0.75 
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in CALHOUN, IOWA
From 06-MAY-05 22:00:00 to 06-MAY-05 22:00:00 (CST)
Location: MANSON
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 10K
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA